Gate.



J. m. TANNER.

GATE.

Patented Sept. '5, I899.

(Application filed Apr. 26, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Wifgcsscs 2 Sheats-Shaot l,

No. 632,288. Patented Sept. 5, I899;

J. M. TANNEB.

GATE.

(Application fllad Apr, 86, 1699.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

NlTED STATES JAMES MADISON TANNER, OF HERRIOK, ILLINOIS.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,288, datedSeptember 5, 1899.

v Application filed April 26, 1899- $eria1No.714,561. (N0 model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES MADISON TAN- NER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Herrick, in the county of Shelby and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Gate, of which the following isa specification.

The invention relates to improvements in gates.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofswinging gates and to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive oneadapted-to be readily opened,

and closed at a distance from it by a person on horseback or within avehicle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gate of this characterwhich will in opening fold against a fence, so that a gate ofconsiderable length may be conveniently operated.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gate constructed inaccordance with this invention and shown closed. Fig. 2 is an elevation,partly in section, showing the gate open. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofthesame. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the gate,illustratingthe manner of mounting the sliding latch-operating bar. Fig.5 is a detail sectional view of one of the operating devices.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings. v

1 designates a swinging gate composed of inner and outer leaves orsections 2 and 3. These are connected together at one of the faces ofthe gate by hinges 4, and the hinges 5, which connect the gate with apost or upright 6, are located at the other side of the said gate,whereby the latter in opening is adapted to break or fold backward toarrange it compactly, as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Theouter leaf or section 3 of the gate closes against a latch-post '7,provided at its inner face with a vertical strip or cleat, against whichthe gate abuts.

The latch-post is provided with an inverted at its lower edge with awear-plate 13.

keeper 8, which is engaged by a latch-bar 9, pivotally mounted betweenits ends on the inner end of the outer leaf or section 3 by means of abolt 10'or other suitable fastening device and extending longitudinallyof the gate beyond both ends thereof, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1of the accompanying drawingsv The outer end of the latch-bar is arrangedin a vertical guide or loop 11 and is provided at its upper face with awear-plate 12, and the rear end of the latchbar is enlarged and providedThe enlarged end 14 of the latch-bar engages a keeper 15, secured to thehinge post or upright and provided at its upper edge with a recess toreceive the latch-bar. The upright and inverted keepers are beveled attheir outer ends and are adapted to engage the latch-bar automaticallyas the gate closes.

The rear end of the latch-bar is connected with a post or support 16 bymeans of a horizontal swinging bar 17, hinged to the latch bar and tothe said post or support 16 and adapted as the gate opens to cause theleaves or sections thereof to fold and tostraighten or distend the sameas the gate closes. The hinge 18, which connects the bar 17 with thelatch-bar, is arranged at the inner face thereof, and the hinge 19,which is arranged at the other end of the bar 17, is located at theouter face'thereof. A cushion 20, consisting of a piece of rubber orother suitable material, is interposed between the adjacent ends of thelatch-bar and the swinging bar 17 and is compressed when the gate isclosed, whereby when the latch-bar is swung vertically out of engagementwith the inner and outer keepers the compressible device or cushion willexpand and swing the 'bar 18 and the latch-bar outward horizontally,thereby starting the gate on its opening movement.

The inner end or arm of the latch-bar is lifted to disengage it from thekeeper of the hinge and latch posts by means of a vertically-movable bar21, mounted in suitable guides and provided at its lower portion withoppositely-disposed lugs 22 and 23. The lug 22, which is located at thelower extremity of the vertically-movable bar 21, extendsbeneath and isadapted to engage the lower edge of the latch-bar, and the other lug 23,

which is located at a point between the ends of the bar 21, extendsbetween the adjacent horizontal rails of the gate and is adapted tolimit the downward movement of the bar 21 when the gate is opened. Thevertical movable bar is mounted in suitable guides 24 and 25. The upperguide is formed by recessing the top bar of the gate-section 2 andsecuring a plate across the recess, and the lower guide consists of aloop or stirrup bolted or otherwise secured to the second horizontalrail or bar of the gate.

The upper end of the vertical movable bar 21 is provided with an eyewhich is linked into an eye of the lower end of an inclined rod 26,which has its upper end connected with one of a pair of operating-levers27 and 28. The operating-lever 28, to which the inclined rod isconnected, is provided with a swiveled eyebolt 29, into which is linkedan eye of the upper end of the rod 26. The upper end of the eyebolt isprovided with a perforation for the reception of a key; but any othersuitable means may be employed for fastening it in a bore or opening ofthe operating-lever. The inner end of the operatinglever 27 is providedwith a finger or projection 30, which extends through a perforated earor projection 31 of an L-shaped bracket secured'to the inner end of theother operating-lever. By this construction the operating-levers arecoupled, and when their inner ends swing upward they are adapted to drawthe gate toward them, whereby the latter is started in its opening andclosing movements. The swiveled eyebolt is adapted to rotate in theperforation of the operatinglever 28 as the gate opens and closes.

The operating-levers are fulcrumed between their ends on asupporting-frame 32 and are provided at their outer ends with dependinghandles 33 to enable them to be readily grasped. The supporting-framecomprises a hinge post or upright and a post or upright 34, located asuflicient distance from the hinge post or upright to permit the gate topass between them, and it is connected with the hinge-post by ahorizontal beam 35, arranged at the top of the supporting-frame. Thehorizontal top bar or beam 35 is braced by inclined bars 36 and isprovided at its ends with horizontal cleats 37, upon which theoperating-levers are fulcrumed, the cleats serving to space theoperating-levers from the top bar or beam. The hinge post or upright issupported by an inclined brace 38, extending from its upper end to thepost or support 16 and adapted to prevent the gate from sagging.

The gate is swung in either direction by pulling down on the outer armof either operating-lever. This downward movement of the operating-leveris sufficient to swing the gate beyond the center, and after theconnecting-rod passes a perpendicular position the inner ends of theoperating-levers will be swung downward by a coiled spring 39, se

cured to the hinge post or upright and to the operating-lever 28 at apoint near the inner end of the latter.

The invention has the following advantages: The gate,which is simple andcomparatively inexpensive in construction, is adapted to be readilyopened and closed at a distance from either side of it withoutnecessitating a 'persons dismounting or leaving a vehicle,

and as it is constructed of two leaves or sections it may be made andsuccessfully operated in great lengths. The outer section or leaf of thegate is shorter than the inner section, so that when the gate is openthe latch will not project into the gateway, and when the gate is closedthe latch is prevented from coming in contact with the latch-post by thevertical bar of the latter, against which the gate abuts. The latch-bar,which extends the entire length of the gate, interlocks with a pair ofkeepers and is firmly locked in its closed position. The compressibledevice, which is interposed between the abutting ends of the latch-barand the swinging horizontal bar, expands as soon as the former isdisengaged from the keepers and causes both of the bars to swingoutward, thereby starting the gate on its opening movement. The hingesat the end of the horizontally-swinging bar have sufficient play topermit the pivoted latch-bar to oscillate vertically to engage with anddisengage itself from the keepers.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details ofconstruction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantagesof this invention.

What is claimed is 1. The combination of a swinging gate composed of twoleaves or sections hinged together, a latch-bar extending longitudinallyof the gate and pivotally mounted on the outer section thereof andprojecting beyond both ends of the gate, a horizontally-swinging barhinged to the inner end of the latchbar and to a suitable support, akeeper arranged to be engaged by the latch-bar, and operating mechanismfor swinging the gate and for disengaging the latch-bar from the keeper,substantially as described.

2. The combination of a swinging gate composed of two sections or leaveshinged together, a longitudinal latch-bar extending beyond both ends ofthe gate and pivotally mounted on the outer leaf or section, thereversely-arranged keepers located at the ends of the gate and adaptedto be engaged by the latch-bar when the gate is closed, a swinging barconnected with the inner end of the latchbar,and operating mechanismconnected with the gate and adapted to disengage the latchbar from thekeepers, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a swinging gate composed of two leaves orsections, a latch-bar IIO pivotally mounted on the outer leaf or sectionand projecting beyond both ends of the gate, a horizontally-swinging barconnected with the inner end of the latch-bar, a Vertically-movabledevice mounted on the gate and arranged to engage the latch-bar, andoperating mechanism connected with the vertically-movable device,substantially as described.

at. The combination of a swinging gate com posed of two sections, alongitudinal latchhar pivotally mounted on the outer section of thegate, a horizontally-movable bar connected with the inner end of thelatch-bar, a keeper, and a compressible device interposed between theadjacent ends of said bars and adapted to throw the same outward whenthe latch-bar is disengaged from the keeper, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a swinging gate composed of two leaves orsections, a latch-bar fulcrumed on the outer leaf or section, ahorizontally-movable bar connected with the inner end of the latch-bar,a vertically-movable device mounted on the gate and arranged to engagethe latch-bar, operating-levers connected with the vertically-movabledevice,and a spring for actuating the operating-levers in one direction,substantially as described.

6. The combination of a swinging gate composed of two leaves or sectionshinged together, a longitudinal latch-bar pivotally mounted on one ofthe leaves or sections, a vertically-movable bar slidingly mounted onthe gate, and having one end arranged to engage the latch-bar, means forlimiting the movement of the vertical bar, operating-lovers connectedwith the vertical bar, and a spring for swinging the operating-levers inone direction, substantially as described.

7. The combination of a swinging gate composed of two leaves orsections, a longitudinal latch-bar pivotally mounted on one of theleaves or sections and projecting beyond both ends of the gate, avertically-movable bar mounted on the gate and arranged to engage thelatch-bar, an operating-lever provided with a swiveled eyebolt, and arod connected with the eyebolt and with the verticallymovable bar,substantially as described.

8. The combination of a swinging gate composed of two leaves or sectionshinged together, the outer leaf or section being shorter than the innerone, and a latch-bar carried by the outer leaf or section, whereby whenthe gate is open it will not project into the gateway, substantially asdescribed.

9. The combination of a swinging gate hinged at its inner end andcomposed of two leaves or sections, a latch-bar pivotally mountedbetween its ends on the outer leaf or section and extendinglongitudinally of the gate, a horizontally-swinging bar connected withthe inner end of the latch-bar, and means for operating the latch-bar,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES MADISON TANNER.

\Vitnesses:

N. B. OWINGs, T. E. MYERS.

